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8/2/2015Sun, 02 Aug 2015 06:11:01 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Softball struggles at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classichttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/02/23/softball-struggles-at-mary-nutter-collegiate-classic/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=softball-struggles-at-mary-nutter-collegiate-classic
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/02/23/softball-struggles-at-mary-nutter-collegiate-classic/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 07:06:01 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1096356Stanford softball (9-8) had a rough weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, going 1-4 against their competition over the four day tournament in Cathedral City, California. While the Cardinal certainly played a tough schedule as part of one of the premier non-conference tournaments in college softball, the performance in all facets of the game was nevertheless disappointing for a squad that had started the season with a solid 8-4 record.

Sophomore pitcher Madi Schreyer was one of the only standouts for the Cardinal last weekend, allowing just two earned runs in three starts. She has posted a 1.50 ERA in 37.1 innings of work so far this season. (ZETONG LI/The Stanford Daily)

What is perhaps most alarming about Stanford’s showing this weekend is that the Card’s woes cannot be pegged simply on one aspect of the game; in a couple of games, the Cardinal racked up errors in the field, while in others, the Card either struggled to hit or struggled to pitch.

Stanford’s difficulties at the plate this weekend were certainly a noticeable departure from the first two weekends, with the Cardinal pretty consistently leaving runs off the board. In the Cardinal’s 6-2 loss to South Carolina (11-4) on Friday afternoon, Stanford left six runners on base, while going 2-for-10 at the plate with runners on base and 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

The struggle to piece together hits continued for Stanford on Sunday morning against No. 22 Texas A&M (12-4). In the Cardinal’s 4-0 loss to the Aggies, the Card stranded eight baserunners while going 2-for-11 with runners on base and 3-for-12 on base runner advancement opportunities.

However, unfortunately for the Cardinal, the troubles continued in the later innings of the tournament finale on Sunday afternoon against San Diego State (8-6). Stanford chased Aztecs starter Erica Romero from the circle after only 2.2 innings, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead on a 3 RBI double from sophomore Kaitlin Schaberg. But Stanford was unable to keep the effort going against Aztec reliever Sydnee Cable. After Cable entered the game, the Cardinal would manage only one additional run on three hits over the rest of the contest.

The cold streak against the Aztecs coincided with a disastrous third and fourth innings in the circle for the Card, as SDSU teed off on freshman pitcher Haley Snyder. After senior outfielder Tylyn Wells walked two out of three batters she faced to start the fourth, Snyder gave up 3 runs on two separate singles before Jenaveve Peres blasted a grand-slam to cap the seven-run fourth. In all, Wells, Snyder and sophomore infielder/starting pitcher Kylie Sorenson were charged with a combined 10 runs in the third and fourth innings. Stanford would be unable to recover from the offensive outburst, falling to the Aztecs by a 11-5 margin.

Finally, defensive miscues hampered the Cardinal’s efforts in its contests against South Carolina and Fresno State (11-4). In the two contests, Stanford committed a combined seven errors, which ultimately led to five unearned runs. On the season, the Cardinal has committed 22 errors, yielding 21 unearned runs.

One bright spot for the Cardinal this weekend was sophomore pitcher Madi Schreyer; the 2014 Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection was excellent in the circle this weekend for Stanford, as she only gave up two earned runs in three starts at the tournament. In particular, in Stanford’s 4-0 win over Oklahoma State (3-9) on Saturday morning, Schreyer completely stifled the Cowgirl offense, scattering five hits while only allowing a single walk. The Woodinville, Washington native also struck out seven batters in the outstanding performance.

On the season, Schreyer has been off to a fantastic start, posting a 1.50 ERA in 37.1 innings of work. True to her form from last season, Schreyer has been relying upon ground balls to record outs, recording 53 groundouts to only 23 flyouts this year.

Stanford returns to action this coming weekend in Los Angeles, as the Cardinal will be participating in a tournament hosted by Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. The Card will face Utah Valley, Wichita State, Long Beach State, Northwestern and Weber State as part of the three-day event.

Contact David Cohn at dmcohn ‘at’ stanford.edu.

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/02/23/softball-struggles-at-mary-nutter-collegiate-classic/feed/0softball, versus UW, on April 11thZETONG LI/The Stanford DailyLacrosse extends winning streak to fivehttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/04/03/lacrosse-extends-winning-streak-to-five/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lacrosse-extends-winning-streak-to-five
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/04/03/lacrosse-extends-winning-streak-to-five/#commentsWed, 03 Apr 2013 07:44:49 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1076120In its return to the West Coast after the conclusion of spring break, the No. 10 Stanford lacrosse team (7-2, 2-0 MPSF) pushed its winning streak to five by beating the Fresno State Bulldogs 21-8 on Tuesday afternoon at Cagan Stadium.

Early in the first half, it looked like Fresno State would be able to keep the game close. However, after the Bulldogs tied the game at 4-4 with 21:09 left in the first period, the Cardinal scored 10 of the next 11 goals to take a 14-5 lead into halftime. Fresno State never threatened again as Stanford coasted to victory in the second half.

Stanford sophomore midfielder Hannah Farr led the team against Fresno State with four first-half goals. She scored three of those goals in a span of just three minutes. (Stanford Daily File Photo)

At the other end of the field, the Cardinal defense was rarely tested — Stanford’s high-octane press made it difficult for Bulldogs to cross midfield with the ball. Farr, Newstrom and junior defender Megan Lerner picked up four draw controls each as Stanford won 24 of 31 faceoffs.

Junior goalkeeper Lyndsey Munoz, who was named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, tallied eight saves. Five of Fresno State’s goals came on free position opportunities in a closely called game.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring just a minute into the game, but sophomore attacker Kyle Fraser (two goals, one assist) responded on the next play to tie the game. The teams traded free position goals before sophomore midfielder Meredith Kalinowski gave the Card a 3-2 lead.

Fresno State scored while down a player, but freshman midfielder Adrienne Anderson (two goals) answered with a goal on the same man-up situation. The Bulldogs tied the game at four but from that point on it was all Card through halftime.

Burns wowed the crowd with a behind-the-back goal with 13:49 remaining to give Stanford an 8-4 lead.

After freshman midfielder Mackenzie Tesei (one goal, one assist) scored an unassisted tally with just under five minutes remaining, Farr exploded for three goals in a three-minute span that also included a second goal from Burns. All four of Farr’s goals came in the first half. The sophomore’s third goal of the game came after the Cardinal worked the ball all the way down the field following a Bulldog turnover.

The score could have been higher if not for the efforts of Fresno State senior goalkeeper Katie Wilbur. The senior made 12 saves on the day, including 11 in the first half as the Cardinal pelted her net with opportunities but was often slightly off-target.

“Our shooting was a big part of today — we definitely want to talk about putting more of those in the back of net,” said Stanford head coach Amy Bokker.

The Cardinal’s attack fired up again quickly after the halftime break as junior midfielder Anna Kim and Newstrom tallied immediately. Fresno State scored the next two goals before Ozer and Newstrom scored again to get the clock running.

Bokker began substituting liberally for the rest of the game. Cardinal freshman midfielder Cyerra Holmes (one goal, one assist) chipped in the first goal of her career late in the game to close the scoring for Stanford.

This game kicks off a streak of three straight conference matchups for the Card. Stanford’s next game will be against MPSF rival No. 20 Denver on April 5 in Denver.

However, Bokker said that the team’s focus doesn’t change at all reentering MPSF play.

“We set our sights high on a national level,” Bokker said. “With each opponent we’re preparing like we would for any opponent across the country.”

The Pioneers have won 11 of 12 games this season, with the lone loss coming in a tight game against Delaware on Feb. 24.

Bokker said the Cardinal defense will have to be very strong against the Denver attack, which is averaging 14.67 goals per game, the second-highest mark in the MPSF. Stanford comes in a close second with 14.33 goals per game.

Sophomore attacker Jill Remenapp (22 goals, 42 assists) is the focal point of the Pioneer offense while redshirt senior attacker Kara Secora (34 goals, 10 assists) is the leading scorer. Seven different players average a goal per game or more for the Pioneers.

Denver is also second in the conference in team defense, allowing a stingy 8.42 goals per game. Pioneer goalkeeper Hannah Hook leads the league with a .513 save percentage.

Both teams will enter the game looking to avoid their first MPSF loss.

“We have our sights set on our goals for the year, both within each individual game and for the season,” Bokker said. “Our players have been really focused and working hard in practice.”

Contact Jana Persky at jpersky ‘at’ stanford.edu.

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/04/03/lacrosse-extends-winning-streak-to-five/feed/0SPO.040313.wlaxCard baseball takes win streak to Saint Mary’shttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/02/26/card-baseball-takes-win-streak-to-saint-marys/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=card-baseball-takes-win-streak-to-saint-marys
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/02/26/card-baseball-takes-win-streak-to-saint-marys/#commentsTue, 26 Feb 2013 08:09:48 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1075320After a small stumble at Rice to begin the season, the Cardinal baseball team seems to have hit its stride. No. 14 Stanford (5-2) will look to extend its current four-game winning streak as it travels to Saint Mary’s University (4-3) for a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon.

“A sweep is huge, especially against Fresno State, who has a lot of really great players on that team,” said second baseman Danny Diekroeger, whose timely home run Sunday night sealed the win for the Card. “Each game was so close and could have gone either way. It was huge for us to win a few close games, really get that confidence, and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

This will be the first of two non-conference meetings between Stanford and Saint Mary’s, which went head-to-head three times last season. The Cardinal outscored the Gaels 24-12 overall to earn victories in all three 2012 games.

During the season-opening three-game series at Rice, Stanford suffered from a chronic inability to come up with timely hits. In the friendly confines of Sunken Diamond, an improved Stanford offense propelled the team to wins by posting 22 runs over the four-game homestand.

Stanford will need to continue to string together hits in order to build off recent victories and muscle past a scrappy Saint Mary’s team.

Sophomore Austin Slater figures to be a huge factor in the continued success of the offense. Starting in the outfield in place of injured starter Austin Wilson, Slater has been nothing less than a sparkplug in the heart of Stanford’s lineup.

After recording his first career hits in a two-for-three effort against Cal on Wednesday, Slater stayed hot through the three games against Fresno State. The sophomore banged out six hits over the weekend, including two doubles and a home run. He has now collected multiple hits in each of his last four games.

This strong showing has likely earned a more consistent role in a crowded lineup for Slater, who is playing in the outfield despite being an infielder by trade. Slater’s .421 batting average and .684 slugging percentage currently pace the team on this young season.

Saint Mary’s is also coming off of a strong weekend in which it rolled to a sweep of visiting Chicago State. Its offense exploded for 25 runs over the three games, including an eight-run outburst in the first inning on Sunday that led to a 15-run victory.

Despite its explosiveness, the Gaels’ offense can be inconsistent and has yet to be challenged by a pitching staff as strong as that of the Cardinal—the Saint Mary’s hitters have put up big numbers in games against Cal State Northridge and Chicago State, which are combined 4-9 this season.

The Saint Mary’s pitching staff has been as inconsistent as the offense. The unit is coming off of its most impressive pitching performance in recent memory, a masterful no-hitter by Ryan Brockett, who only walked two and plunked one batter. However, in its season-opening series against Cal State Northridge, the pitching staff gave up at least five runs in each of the four games. With a team ERA of 4.50 against weaker offenses, the Gaels’ pitchers will face their first true challenge against a Stanford lineup that has begun to find its stride.

Stanford pitchers have been rock solid this year, dishing out strong performances day in and day out from both proven veterans like Mark Appel and also from its younger, less experienced faces.

The pitching corps boasts an overall ERA of 2.03 and has recorded 57 strikeouts against only 15 walks so far this season. They have yet to allow more than five runs in a single game and have done an impressive job of limiting the damage done by opposing teams when they are able to get runners on base.

Senior right-hander Dean McArdle is next in the rotation and is expected to take the mound again after hurling two strong innings against Cal during his last outing. The Cardinal and Gaels meet in Moraga, Calif., at 2 p.m. today.

Junior Brett Michael Doran hit a walk-off three-run home run to left in the tenth inning Saturday to lead Stanford to a 7-4 victory over Fresno State. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily).

All three games were nail-biters, but great pitching and timely hitting led No. 11 Stanford to a three-game sweep of visiting Fresno State at Sunken Diamond.

Stanford (5-2) took the series opener Friday night, 3-1. Senior starting pitcher Mark Appel (1-1) pitched a gem to earn his first victory on the mound since a 9-1 win over the same Fresno State Bulldogs in Stanford’s first game of the 2012 Palo Alto Regional on June 1.

In the words of many of the 30-plus scouts in attendance Friday night, it may have been the best Appel has ever looked in a start. In his first time through the lineup, Appel used mostly his fastball and slider, but as the game went on, he threw a lot more of his changeup en route to complete domination of the Bulldogs — Appel retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced.

“His slider was better than I’d ever seen,” Scout.com’s National Baseball Expert Kiley McDaniel said about Appel. “If he pitches like that the rest of the year… he’s going to be a slam dunk for the No. 1 pick.”

Senior designated hitter Justin Ringo contributed in a big way to the winning effort once again. Ringo knocked in junior Brian Ragira with a first inning single before scoring the winning run on a bases-loaded walk from junior Brett Michael Doran.

“We were having good at bats all day,” Ringo said. “We were hitting balls hard. I don’t think anyone was really worried; it was just a matter of when it was going to happen. We knew Mark was going to keep us in the game; he always does. He’s amazing.”

Doran’s bases-loaded walk turned out to be only the second most important play of his weekend.

On Saturday, after a Fresno State comeback sent the game to extra innings, Doran delivered the most clutch at bat of his Cardinal career. With runners on first and second with nobody out, Doran took a 1-2 pitch from Jordan Brink deep to left field for a walk-off home run, clinching a series win for Stanford.

“When I was going up there I knew I was probably going to bunt,” Doran said. “So I was trying to get the bunt down — get runners to second and third with only one out. Missed the bunt, so I was like ‘alright I’ve just got to put together a good at bat and battle through it.’ Luckily he left me a pitch up in the zone and I hit it.”

Doran’s homer bailed out freshman pitcher Daniel Starwalt, who gave up two runs — one earned — to allow Fresno State to tie the game in the ninth. Sophomore starting pitcher John Hochstatter got the no-decision after a great start. The sophomore allowed two runs — on a home run by Taylor Ward in the third — in 6.1 innings, finishing with seven strikeouts.

Ragira also starred in Sunday’s contest, going two for three with two RBI and two runs scored. Ragira and sophomore Austin Slater were the only two Cardinal hitters to record multiple hits on the afternoon. Stanford turned five Fresno State errors into two unearned runs to help send the game to extra innings.

On Sunday, Stanford looked to sweep behind freshman left-handed pitcher Logan James. In his first career start at Rice on the season’s opening weekend, James struggled early — the first three Owls he faced scored — before buckling down. He took the loss, as Stanford fell 3-0.

Against Fresno State, James started slowly again, allowing two runs — one earned — in the top of the first inning. But unlike the week before at Rice, James couldn’t find his command in the second, allowing another run before being pulled from the game before the start of the third inning.

Freshman right hander Bobby Zarubin came in to try to keep the game close after Stanford cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second. Zarubin rose to the occasion, keeping Fresno State off the scoreboard until the seventh inning, when Aaron Judge hit the longest home run of the season to tie the game at four.

In the bottom of the eighth, Stanford finished off its comeback to give Zarubin his first comfortable lead of the afternoon. Sophomore catcher Wayne Taylor knocked in freshman centerfielder Drew Jackson from first on an opposite-field double to give Stanford a one-run edge. Then, two batters later, Danny Diekroeger sealed the victory with a two-run homer to right field — his first of the season — to give Stanford a 7-4 lead.

Zarubin came within one out of finishing the game himself, but Stanford pitching coach Rusty Filter elected to go with junior Sam Lindquist for the one-out save. Lindquist retired Taylor Ward on a weak grounder to shortstop to finish the sweep of the Bulldogs.

Zarubin finished with 6.2 innings pitched, eleven strikeouts and one run allowed to earn the victory, the first of his Stanford career.

In the end, the friendly confines of Sunken Diamond gave Stanford the boost it needed after a tough opening series loss at Rice. Stanford has won four straight games since returning from Houston, all of which were played at Sunken Diamond.

“We play so much better at home,” Ringo said. “It’s just so much easier to play in front of the home crowd, especially when Mark goes nine innings and gives up one run. That’s also very nice.”

Stanford will head back on the road Tuesday for an early afternoon contest against Saint Mary’s. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

Contact Sam Fisher at safisher “at” stanford.edu.

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/02/24/appel-doran-lead-baseball-to-a-three-game-sweep-of-fresno-state/feed/1Brett Michael DoranJunior Brett Michael DoranFresno State visits the Farm for Card’s first home serieshttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/02/22/fresno-state-visits-the-farm-for-cards-first-home-series/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fresno-state-visits-the-farm-for-cards-first-home-series
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/02/22/fresno-state-visits-the-farm-for-cards-first-home-series/#commentsFri, 22 Feb 2013 09:22:06 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1075225Returns have been mixed for the No. 15 Stanford baseball team this season. The unexpected dominance of the Cardinal’s young pitching staff, which has allowed a mere seven earned runs in four games, has more or less counteracted the slumbering bats in its seasoned lineup, which have managed just six extra-base hits.

But in a rematch of one of the highest-scoring series Stanford played in last season—the teams combined for 38 runs in three games—look for both of those trends to regress to the mean as Fresno State (1-2) visits Sunken Diamond this weekend.

Sophomore slugger Alex Blandino (above) and the Cardinal bats will look to heat up this weekend against Fresno State. (IAN GARCIA-DOTY/The Stanford Daily)

Though the Cardinal (2-2) will be without junior slugger Austin Wilson for at least a few more weeks because of an elbow strain, its lineup is just too powerful to stay silent for very much longer. Stanford still lacks a home run—it had five through the first four games in 2012—and cleanup hitter Alex Blandino is only 2-for-12 on the young season.

Those numbers have a lot to do with Rice’s pitching on opening weekend. The Cardinal struggled against the Owls’ breaking balls while plating just four runners in the series loss.

“They attacked us very well and had really good breaking balls, and early in the year we hadn’t seen that,” said head coach Mark Marquess. “I wish we would’ve won a couple more games, but it was good [for us].”

Stanford’s early growth was evident in Wednesday’s win against Cal. The Cardinal jumped out to a 2-0 lead with five productive at-bats—four singles and a sac bunt—to lead off the game, and though Stanford batters only had three more hits on the evening, their patience at the plate yielded four walks and four hit-by-pitches.

The squad’s best hitter to this point, junior second baseman Danny Diekroeger, kept up his consistent production and came around to score twice, but a new face led the charge against the Bears. Sophomore designated hitter Austin Slater registered the first two hits of his career and knocked in a run, signaling at least a short-term solution in the order as former designated hitter Justin Ringo takes over outfielding duties in place of other struggling hitters.

“I waited a while to get my chance and finally got it,” Slater said of his first hit. “It felt good.”

Stanford’s pitching success has also come from unexpected sources. Freshmen relievers Bobby Zarubin, Daniel Starwalt and Marcus Brakeman have allowed no earned runs and only seven hits in 10 combined innings of work, though their classmate, lefty Logan James, allowed all three Rice runs in the Cardinal’s loss on Sunday. Solid outings by sophomores John Hochstatter and David Schmidt are also encouraging, but both of those hurlers started strong in 2012 before tailing off by season’s end.

Senior Mark Appel will be looking to shake off his uncharacteristic loss in Houston. Though Appel only gave up two earned runs, Stanford will need its star righty to last longer than the five innings he got through in his hometown if it expects to have any success in the long run this season.

Of course, Appel’s only loss of the 2012 regular season—and the first defeat of last season for the top-ranked Card—came against the very same Fresno State team that will be in town this weekend.

The Bulldogs are led on offense by a duo that accounted for three hits and four RBI against Appel a season ago. Veterans Aaron Judge and Austin Wynns each earned preseason All-America selections, and both homered in Fresno State’s series against UC-Santa Barbara last weekend.

Against those sluggers, snagging a quick lead will be bigger than ever for the Cardinal.

“Anytime the bats come around and we open up an early lead, that’s big for the pitching staff,” Schmidt said. “It just lets us go out there, relax and make pitches. You want to do it for your teammates. When they’re putting runs up on the board, you know, you realize you’ve got to pull your weight, so it kind of motivates us.”

Stanford failed to score quickly when these two teams met in last year’s Regionals but prevailed 9-1 regardless behind 11 strikeouts from Appel and hits from eight of nine spots in the order.

The Cardinal has a chance to get that same top-to-bottom production this weekend against a young Bulldog rotation. Fresno State started two sophomores and a freshman on the bump last week, and despite those pitchers’ decent success—14 hits in 17 innings—facing Stanford’s talented hitters will be another challenge entirely.

Tonight’s series opener is at 5:30 p.m. at Sunken Diamond, with 1 p.m. matchups following on Saturday and Sunday.

Jack Mosbacher was a member of the Stanford baseball team from 2008-2011. Each week, he’ll take a look at the Cardinal’s ups and downs on its road to the College World Series.

When you looked at the No. 1 Stanford baseball team’s schedule prior to the start of the year, this past weekend’s series against Fresno State would not have stood out one bit.

Because it was sandwiched between series with No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Rice, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that this would be the series when we’d really learn about the character and resilience of this highly touted baseball team.

But it was. In fact, we learned far more about the Cardinal this weekend than in any other week because the Cardinal was on the road for the first time, and because the Cardinal actually lost.

Rolling into Fresno touting an unblemished 8-0 record, the Cardinal had plenty to be confident about. Following back-to-back sweeps of Vanderbilt and Texas, the Cardinal wore a No. 1 national ranking on its back for the first time in a decade. And on a cold, windy Friday night, the Cardinal (and stud pitcher Mark Appel) was beaten.

Frankly, you don’t learn much about the character of a team in an early-season sweep. After all, you have no way of knowing how good or bad the losing team actually was until it is tested in the crucible of later competition. So despite the early-season excitement surrounding Stanford’s two early sweeps, you weren’t going to see me too excited. The sample size available for judgment was just too small, and the sample quality of these traditional powerhouses was misleading at best (See: Vanderbilt being swept by Oregon and Texas limping out of the gates at 4-7, including a loss to lowly UT-Arlington).

After this weekend, however, I’m truly excited. Why? Because the Cardinal lost and then responded like a champion should.

Trust me when I say that the Stanford baseball players like being good. They enjoy the pressure of being called the best team in the nation. And they knew how disastrous a series loss to an unranked opponent would be for their national standings. So, when the Cardinal dropped its first game of the year on Friday night, the players didn’t just get mad; they got even. And then they rubbed it in a little bit.

In the final two games, the Cardinal treated Fresno State like a little brother who had just scored a lucky basket in a pickup basketball game. Stanford outscored the Bulldogs on Saturday and Sunday by a combined score of 25-2. I think the message the Cardinal sent to the baseball world was clear: losses are not only flukes, but we will treat them as personal insults.

That’s an exciting prospect because this won’t be the only Friday game the Cardinal loses this year. While you’re unlikely to find anyone outside of the Appel family who believes in Mark as much as I do, the Stanford ace will be going up against some of the best opposing pitchers in the country this year, including fellow first-round talents like Arizona’s Kurt Heyer and Arizona State’s Brady Rodgers.

Like I’ve said, we didn’t learn much that we didn’t already know about the Cardinal in its first two weekend series. We knew the team was loaded with talent and that, on paper, it could play with any team in the country. What we didn’t know was how it would respond to eventual adversity.

Would Stanford be like the elementary school bully who pushes kids around until somebody actually hits back? Or would the Cardinal be the type of team that relishes the challenge of playing the underdog every once in a while, much like the last Stanford team to make it to the College World Series in 2008?

Three weeks into the season, I’m ready to admit that I’m excited about this Stanford baseball team, because it is exactly the type of team that people like to watch. The players have confidence and swagger — they know they’re good — but they also aren’t afraid to play like they have a chip on their shoulder. They believe that anything short of a trip to the World Series in Omaha would be a disappointment.

The Cardinal’s reaction to Friday’s loss speaks volumes about the character of this team. One thing is for sure: Stanford won’t be going down without a fight.

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/03/06/mosbacher-minute-stanford-passes-first-true-test/feed/6Baseball: No. 1 Card looks to prove its tenacity on the road against Fresno Statehttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/03/02/baseball-no-1-card-looks-to-prove-its-tenacity-on-the-road-against-fresno-state/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=baseball-no-1-card-looks-to-prove-its-tenacity-on-the-road-against-fresno-state
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/03/02/baseball-no-1-card-looks-to-prove-its-tenacity-on-the-road-against-fresno-state/#commentsFri, 02 Mar 2012 11:03:31 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1060208The top-ranked Stanford baseball team opens a series at Fresno State tonight in what will be a weekend of firsts for the 8-0 Cardinal.

This is the squad’s first three-game set on the road after losing five of its eight away series a year ago. This is the first time this year that Stanford has stability in its pitching rotation following the emergence of freshman Sunday starter John Hochstatter. And it’s also the first time the Cardinal can call itself the No. 1 team in the country in eight years, ending Stanford’s longest sojourn from the top of the national rankings since longtime head coach Mark Marquess’ first days at the helm of the program in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

The Cardinal earned that ranking by throwing off preseason top-15 teams Vanderbilt and Texas without much difficulty, sweeping those two squads by a combined score of 62-18. But even though this weekend’s opponent, the Bulldogs (3-5), might not be as highly touted, Stanford can’t afford to take the weekend off.

“We’ll bring the same intensity,” Marquess said. “[The players] know that it doesn’t make any difference whom you’re playing if you don’t play well. Pacific hadn’t won a game yet and they almost had us beat over there. If you don’t play well, you get beat.”

The Cardinal’s closest call this season was a 9-7 extra-innings win over Pacific on Feb. 21 in the team’s only road game at that point. Avoiding a similar lapse is a priority heading into this weekend’s trip to Fresno.

“Our motto this year has been that we’re going to outwork every team in the country, and I think we’ve just got to keep that mentality going into Fresno,” junior centerfielder Jake Stewart said. “They’re going to be tough, and especially playing them down there, we’ve got to be sure that we go down there and play our best every day, and not let one get by us.”

Fresno State fell flat in its last game, a 7-1 home loss to UC-Santa Barbara, while the Cardinal won its Tuesday game against UC-Davis 5-1 thanks to two hits and a leadoff home run from Stewart, his second dinger of the season.

Stanford holds a 77-44 advantage in the all-time series with the Bulldogs, though it has not met Fresno State in five years. When the Cardinal hosted the Bulldogs in 2007, weather limited the series to two games and Stanford earned the partial sweep.

For the squad to take all three contests this weekend and return back to the Farm with an 11-0 record on Sunday, it’s going to have to go through a pair of Bulldog starters who have rarely faltered this season. Don’t be fooled by the 1-1 records of lefthanders Thomas Harlan and Tyler Linehan; their respective 0.71 and 0.59 ERAs are clearly going to be a test for Stanford’s loaded lineup.

Even with offensive explosions, such as an eight-run inning in the series finale against Vanderbilt and a 13-run frame last Sunday against Texas, the Cardinal is looking to add a degree of consistency to all areas of its game with the season still in its early stages.

“We have guys who aren’t hitting like they would like right now, and I think that it’s only a matter of time before those guys start to, and we have all the confidence in the world in those guys,” Stewart said. “The schedule we’ve played has helped us because we came here to play the best, and playing these good teams is really setting us up well.”

This series can also be a proving ground for Stanford’s pitching staff, which seems to have answered questions about the Sunday starter and closer spots, with freshmen Hochstatter and David Schmidt stepping into those roles. Behind feared juniors Brett Mooneyham and Mark Appel—who was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after striking out 10 batters and giving up one run in seven innings last Friday—Hochstatter’s challenge will be to keep up his 0.71 ERA and .116 opponents’ batting average pitching in a hostile environment for the first time.

Fresno State’s lineup averaged over eight runs per contest in its four-game opening series with Butler, but its production has fallen off considerably since then, putting up just 11 runs in five games and being shut out twice. By comparison, the Cardinal has scored 40 times in its last five contests, and seven of Stanford’s nine regular starters have at least six RBIs—the tally for the Bulldogs’ team leaders, freshman rightfielder Jordan Luplow and senior second baseman Patrick Hutcheson—on the season.

The difficulty of Stanford’s conference schedule makes this weekend seem that much more important, with six Pac-12 schools already climbing into the rankings at some point this season. And even though the Cardinal seems to have created some separation for itself at the top of the conference with its early play, Stanford still has work to do before conference play begins.

“We’ve played well, we’ve scored a lot of runs and we’ve got some timely hitting,” Marquess said. “We’re really swinging the bats well. But we’ve still got to go to Fresno, play a tough Fresno State team there, and play [No. 4] Rice. So we’ll still be tested some more. We’re still finding things out.”

The series kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. in Fresno, with the Saturday start set for 6 p.m. and the Sunday matchup slated for 1 p.m.

Listen to extended interviews of Marquess and Stewart here:

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/03/02/baseball-no-1-card-looks-to-prove-its-tenacity-on-the-road-against-fresno-state/feed/0W. Lacrosse: Playday sweephttp://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/18/w-lacrosse-playday-sweep/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=w-lacrosse-playday-sweep
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/18/w-lacrosse-playday-sweep/#commentsMon, 18 Oct 2010 08:50:48 +0000http://www.stanforddaily.com/?p=1043303The Stanford women’s lacrosse team took down St. Mary’s, Fresno State, and UC Davis last Saturday in a round-robin playday, a good start to the season before the team heads to Philadelphia this weekend.

Because the official lacrosse season does not start until winter, the games were informal and no official scores were kept. Nevertheless, the Cardinal had no trouble dusting off all three opponents, clearly outplaying and outscoring all three.

Women's lacrosse continued preseason play with three wins over the weekend against St. Mary's, UC-Davis and Fresno State. (ANDREW STILES/ The Stanford Daily)

Head coach Amy Bokker complimented the three MPSF foes for their solid play, saying, “Fresno State now has a couple years under their belt–they seem to have more experience. UC Davis has always been right there in the MPSF–they held their own. St. Mary’s looked pretty competitive, too, but mainly it was just nice to get out and play against three conference opponents.”

Stanford started the day with a 9 a.m. match against St. Mary’s. The Cardinal dominated the time of possession and got its fair share of turnovers, but had some trouble scoring when close to the goal.

“I thought we had a lot of good looks and great opportunities, for us. We either kept missing the cage or they were clanging off the posts,” Bokker said. “We wanted to keep momentum and it’s hard when you keep shooting and missing.”

In the second game, Stanford faced off against UC Davis, who Stanford only defeated by a score of 17-14 on their last visit to the Farm. Stanford had far less trouble with the Aggies on Saturday, notching a 15-9 victory.

The Card ended the day against Fresno State, and commanded both time of possession and faceoffs on their way to a 13-3 victory. Stanford started off quickly, and used the fast break to their advantage, whipping any missed shot by a Bulldog down the field, resulting in several quick scores for the Card.

“We really wanted to utilize our team speed, which I think looks great,” Bokker said. “Our goal was to finish on five fast break opportunities each game, and we did that in every game except the first one, where we only had four.”

The top players of the day were the attackers for the Card, who feasted on those fast break opportunities. Junior Emilie Boeri, sophomore Jennifer Lang, and freshman Rachel Ozer scored multiple goals in all three games.

Another high point for the Cardinal was the goalkeeping of freshman Lyndsey Munoz and senior Annie Read, who split time and managed to hold both the Fresno State and UC Davis offenses to single-digit scoring.

Bokker said she was very happy overall with the team’s play, but noted, “I was a little disappointed because our settled defense looked really great against Cal last week, and there were times when we looked a little bit unorganized today. That comes with a little bit more practice and getting used to one another.”

Saturday also marked a busy recruiting day for the lacrosse team, which hosted 26 high school juniors from across the country, some of whom were visiting Stanford for the first time.

The Cardinal’s next test comes this weekend, as the team heads to Philadelphia to take on Maryland, Penn, and Virginia on Saturday, all of whom finished ranked in the top ten in the nation last season. Maryland headlines the class, as the Terrapins finished ranked number one after taking home the national title over Northwestern with a 13-11 victory in May.

The Cardinal will be looking to avenge their 20-8 loss to the Terrapins last season, where the Terps had a first half run of ten straight goals and a second half run of seven straight goals. Although Stanford cut the lead to only 13-7 at one point in the second half, Maryland was too strong, outshooting the Card 43-16 overall.

After Saturday’s draw against the top quality competition, the Card will then take on Drexel, St. Joseph’s, and Temple on Sunday. St. Joseph’s struggled to a 2-14 record last year, while Temple finished 7-10 and Drexel completed a 10-7 season.

Stanford announced the 2011 spring schedule last Thursday, which will feature four matchups against top 15 teams from last year, including number two Northwestern, number 11 Notre Dame, number nine Syracuse, and number ten Vanderbilt.

]]>http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/18/w-lacrosse-playday-sweep/feed/0spo101810wlaxWomen's lacrosse continued preseason play with three wins over the weekend against St. Mary's, UC-Davis and Fresno State. (ANDREW STILES/ The Stanford Daily)